Fee disclosures

It's no exaggeration to say rock-bottom fees are an existential threat to many asset managers. However, technology could still save the day.

With tens of thousands of certificants affiliated with giant BDs, the documents required by the new standards are making their conflicts of interest plain as day.

Jason Wenk, founder of Altruist, is ramping up for an end-of-year debut.

The regulator’s expanding number of share-class cases fill in the details it says have been missing from Form ADV disclosures about conflicts of interest.

In a little-noticed rule change, mutual funds no longer disclose their shrinking BD commission load-sharing payments.

Since this March, almost 100 firms have settled with the regulator for approximately $173 million. Other cases are still pending.

More than 70% of U.S. ETF assets are in funds that charge 2 basis points or less, data show. But free isn’t an automatic ticket to success.

The indexing giant’s pilot Digital Advisor will be priced at 15 basis points, but allocate client assets almost entirely in proprietary funds.

Alternative compensation structures may provide more consumer protection, and drive higher client satisfaction.

The SEC’s 564-page rule shows the new disclosure could prove time-consuming, even vexing, for firms.

The transition is expected to take place within the next 12 to 18 months, however the firm says it will still manage the products’ underlying investments.

The firm’s complicated relationship with these fees is indicative of the industry’s overall struggle to find a balance between appropriate compensation and transparency.

An unprecedented 58 funds were closed in the six months through June, marking the industry’s worst-ever start to a year.

The custodial bank says it has reimbursed the affected clients with interest.

Expenses have outpaced or matched revenue growth during the past four to five years, while aggregate fees declined almost 20%, a study found.

Of the 468 hedge funds that used Goldman Sachs’ prime brokerage services in the past decade, half have shuttered.

Though the fees are controversial, there may not be an easy way for the industry to abandon them.

The firm says it will focus the new funds on tech, demographics, urbanization, climate change and emerging global wealth.

Under new leadership, the firm’s iShares unit intends to create funds that it says go beyond traditional sectors and geographic focuses.

Advisors will find the lowest, near-zero fund. Do they read the fine print?